[Video Transcript]
Klim Ultralight Watertight First Aid Kit
Number one – First Aid Kit.
It’s amazing how many motorcyclists – 96, 97, 98% of them – will ride without a first aid kit.
Of course I’m an adventure rider – I spend most of my time bumping and scraping through the bushes and I’m usually beyond cell service. So this is just common sense.
But cruisers, sport riders, scooters – everyone should at least consider one of these. Mine is this Ultralight Watertight First Aid Kit from Klim and I’ve been pleased with it. It’s recommended for 1-2 people on a 1-4-day trip, it costs 40 bucks and it only weighs 190 grams. This is the easiest thing to carry out of all my essential kit and it’s the most important.
So this is all the contents here. Everything from bandaids, to gauze, to painkillers, to duct tape. And the main thing – for me – was learning how to use it all. You gotta take a few minutes, play around with everything in your kit. Because when someone in your riding group goes down, that’s not the right time to learn.
If you’ve never taken a first aid course, start with that.
I apologize for all the gravitas at the beginning of this video, but I felt like putting first things first. Thankfully I’ve never had to do anything serious with this. In fact, it’s only ever made the difference between patching myself up, and having to wait for someone else to do it.
Stop & Go Pocket Tubeless Tire Plugger
Now, the second thing that never leaves my sidecase is this – the Stop & Go Tubeless Tire Plugger.
I’ve had a bunch of flats in the past, so I know how necessary something like this is. But all of my experience has been with tube-type tires and patch kits, so I can’t say whether my Stop and Go Tubeless kit is any good. I hope it is and if my V-Strom back there ever blows a tire, I’ll let you know what I find out.
The idea is pretty simple. I find the puncture, and then ream it out with this rasp tool to make a clean hole. Then I use a combination of these tools to seat one of these rubber mushrooms inside the hole. At the end of it, I should have the fat end of the mushroom on the inside of the tire.
Ergo, I can re-inflate the tire and the air pressure will keep the plug in place.
Again, I have no idea how well that actually works.
I can say that the build quality is nice though. It’s a faux leather bag with a zipper closure. And inside there’s a laminated instructions sheet with pictures, so even in the pouring rain, a monkey could figure out how to use it.
The whole thing weighs about 340 grams, by the way, it measures 7 ½ -inches long, 3-inches wide and it costs 50 bucks.
Stop & Go Portable Mini Air Compressor
Now you might be wondering how the hell I’m supposed to pump up my tire once I have it plugged.
Well, there are two ways about that. For one, Stop & Go sells some plugger kits that come with CO2 cartridges, but those are more expensive and its kind of a one-shot deal.
I much prefer to get a basic plugger kit and this Stop & Go Portable Mini Air Compressor, because I can use it all the time, not just in emergencies.
Whenever I ride off road, I drop the psi in my tires by about 15. And with the Stop & Go, I don’t have to tiptoe back home at the end of the day on half-flat rubber. I can just hook this onto my bike – with the gator clips right to the battery, or this 12V plug attachment, screw the valve onto my tire, and then push the button.
My one complaint is that the Stop & Go is really loud! It also takes a long time to fill a tire, especially the rear one!
The other thing is that the gauge reads too high while the compressor is running, so I typically have to subtract 4 or 5 psi from what I see on here.
But otherwise it’s a solid piece of equipment. It comes in this sturdy, zippered canvas bag. There’s a little light at the front to help me use it at night, and a few different nozzles for blowing up beach balls, air mattresses … that kind of thing.
The whole thing only costs 50 bucks, and it’s so small that I could fit it in the gap under my seat.
Cruz Tools Speedkit Compact Tool Kit
But … I don’t. Because this is what goes in the gap under my seat. It’s a Cruz Tools Speedkit tool kit.
Yes, my V-Strom came with a tool kit; your motorcycle probably did as well. But let’s compare.
This is the OEM tool kit. A crappy vinyl bag, a sad little wrench, a slightly less sad wrench, Philips head screwdriver, pliers and two Allen Keys.
And this is the Cruz Tools kit. Nice zippered bag, beefier wrenches, a screwdriver with nine different head attachments – all of which are magnetic – then we have sturdier pliers with real grips, four Allen Keys, a 2-in-1 spark plug socket, plus the lever tool, plus a tire pressure gauge.
It’s crazy. The Speedkit has three times the pieces, they’re better made and yet somehow, [8] it all packs down to the same size as my OEM kit.
By the way, the Cruz Tools come in three different versions – one for Japanese bikes, one for European bikes, and one for Harley-Davidsons. All of them will run you about 50 bucks.
Icon PDX Rain Jacket and Pants
And finally, the fifth thing I never ride without … is rain gear.
The weather is super unpredictable here in Montreal, so I just make a habit of taking my Icon PDX kit everywhere. Even on a bluebird day, the rain shell comes with me.
I should say that I wouldn’t recommend the PDX rain jacket and pants anymore. The original version was fantastic. But Icon has recently replaced it with the PDX 2 lineup, which is way flimsier and way less reflective.
If you can find some original PDX gear online though, it’s fantastic quality and it’ll probably be on sale.